Acer R13 Ghosting and Backlit Keyboard Noise - Return worthy?

tout-puissant
tout-puissant Member Posts: 5 New User

Hi, I bought an earlier R13 (Haswell i5, FHD screen) on sale. Thankfully, with the BIOS update the keyboard typing experience, while not perfect, is more than manageable for me so far. My two issues:

 

1) Upon setting up, I selected a darker color for the Windows menu background. When I switched to this, I notced a wide, fuzzy rectangular box-shaped area around the inside of the screen that was somewhat lighter in color, and two of the buttons on the screen left a ghost image within this shape while the system continued with setup. Worried about the ghosting issue noted elsewhere in this forum, I tried an image retention test found online and sure enough the checkerboard image stayed visible on the edges of the screen when I switched to grey. It returned to normal operations swiftly after that. 

 

2) I have also experienced the high-pitched whine with the backlit keyboard on maximum. This is not audible on the lower setting or when it's off. It's very quiet, but nonetheless it's still there. Is this a common problem? Are there people out there who HAVE this issue but are okay with it? Given that the device is practically silent otherwise (that fan is darn near whisper level when it IS on), it's a minor but nonetheless present annoyance. 

I can still return this unit - *should* I, and what's likely to happen if I don't?

I'm in the middle of evaluating the machine to see if it fits my needs. The form factor is amazing, and comiong from a home and workplace filled with Windows 7 machines Windows 8.1 was much easier to handle than I thought (and with W10 on the horizon I can only imagine it getting better). These two issues are the standouts for me. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Mark

Answers

  • -Justin
    -Justin Member Posts: 2,362 Skilled Specialist WiFi Icon

    tout-puissant,

     

    Sorry to hear you are not having the best experience with your notebook. Could you provide the specific model you have to help narrow down possible answers you have?

  • carskr
    carskr Member Posts: 5 New User

    Hello tout-puissant,

     

    yes i can confirm the same problems. 

    1. I read that ghosting is quite normal on budget IPS displays. 

     

    2. This is really bad, because i only use the hardware leds in the night an the when ist's quite it really disturbing. I'm also thinging about returning the unit...but on the other hand i really appreciate the other things you also mentioned. 

    My device is the Acer Aspire R7-371T-52JR

  • tout-puissant
    tout-puissant Member Posts: 5 New User

    Hi Acer-Justin, my specific model is R7-371T-59L6.

     

    I also tested a newer R7-371T with the newer i5-5200 processor. That one did not come with the buzzing backlight initially. When I updated the BIOS on that unit from 1.03 to the current 1.09, the buzzing started on that unit. This leads me to believe that the buzzing is a result of the BIOS interacting with the hardware and that further tweaking of the BIOS may eliminate the buzzing noise.

     

    Regarding the ghosting, it is apparent but not persistent. I would like to know if newer units (i.e. built after 1/2015) still have this issue. If so, I will want to request a return ticket to get a non-faulty unit. Note that the other 371T that I tested was built in 1/2015 and had the ghosting display.

     

    Please advise, thanks!

     

    Mark

     

     

     

     

  • Asim0
    Asim0 Member Posts: 1 New User

    Same stupid sound at night. Also cant disable that auto keyboard backlight disabler function, really annoying. Please fix that!

    Bios 1.09 core i5-5200 120gb ssd FullHD Acer R13 Windows 8.1

    Acer Aspire R7-371t-55XH